FABLE FROM ASHLEY'S EYES
That one is fortunate
who sees you and does not think
'Life is too brief!'
For you are a flash of lightning
and your smile dazzles things.
Your eyes told me a story:
There was a field in which grew
many mighty and beautiful, rare
Redwood trees, three hundred feet
tall, American, and nearly two
thousand years old. They caressed
the sky with their arms at night,
discoursing with white stars.
There was no melancholy in this field,
only the exuberant strength of giants,
who knew only to grow and to overcome.
One night lightning flashed and
took the form of a masterly, blue
serpent. He said:
'Mighty and beautiful Redwoods,
for whom nothing is impossible,
let me rest awhile and abide
in your branches, for they are warm,
and the sea breeze cold, and I am
tired from my travels across
the oceans. See how I twist
and turn so jagged, I would
loose my sore limbs in your eaves.'
The trees discussed this offer
at length, reclining branches
upon each other marvellously,
stirred by secret longings,
for this serpent was gorgeous
and covered in glittering sparks
and spoke in a voice of twelve
voices and bore boldly living
designs upon his skin
which altered with his mood.
At last, one spoke and said
to the serpent this:
'Bold and beautiful serpent
you may sojourn thus
but please respect our
boundaries and rest only
here, within our grove,
for we are resistant
to your fire, protected
by our oils, and shall not
be consumed, but our
smaller, younger cousins not
and should you wander too close,
they would surely burn.'
The serpent agreed with
a terrible hiss and wracked
the Redwoods with his presence
stretched from the sea in to
the coast.
Lightning flashed for many days
as he stretched and tossed
and turned. He took the form
of a magnificent storm.
But he could not control
the fierce winds who
carried him wildly into
the younger groves.
His many tongues of fire
flashed and raged and burned
the younger groves down.
The Redwoods mourned and
were outraged, thought
the snake purposed this
destruction.
At this they gathered
and doomed the serpent
and pronounced forever
he should flicker, that
his presence would not
last for more than a few
brief seconds at a time.
When your eyes had finished
this story I understood their
color, where flashing bits of
lightning lived, the misunderstood
and wondrous serpent hissed
iin their blue.
To look at you and your smile
is to remember when once,
in harmony the serpent coiled
in the eagle's nest, high up
in the eaves of the ancient
Redwoods.
Oh, that one is fortunate
who sees you and does not think
'Life is too brief!'
For you are a flash of lightning
and your smile dazzles things.
_____
STANLEY GEMMELL
September 8, 2008
Temple2 http://www.angelfire.com/il/surlsone
Model: Alexandra Spencer
